Recently, science has shifted more and more towards biophysics as Western medicine has proven inadequate. The biophysical view of life focuses on the matrix of energy and information. Although the dynamics of these are very complex and often difficult to measure, work in this area is yielding insights into a more subtle dimension of life.
Many lines of scientific and clinical evidence show that extremely small energetic stimuli to injured or sick organisms can promote healing. See “Scientific Analysis of the Human Aura,” Rubik B., Measuring Energy Fields, State of the Science, Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, GDV Bioelectrography Series, vol. 1, 2004. For example, certain “energy medicines” such as homeopathy, biofield therapies, acupuncture and bioelectromagnetic therapies demonstrate that tiny nudges, repeated over time, can shift the dynamics of the organism, nudging it into a healing state. Id. These techniques are distinctly different from the approach of conventional medicine, which focuses on modifying the structure and/or biochemistry of life.
Virtually every indigenous culture has the belief in a vital force or life energy, known as vitalism. For example, there is the concept of qi in China, ki in Japan, prana in India, and so forth. It is possible that all of the indigenous systems of medicine were founded on the principal of vital force, and many of these medical systems remain outside of mainstream Western medicine today. However, vitalistic principles are key to many contemporary alternative systems of medicine, including homeopathy, chiropractry, Oriental medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Anthroposophical medicine, and others.
Recently, studies have been performed using electronic technology to study energy field patterns of humans. Methods include electrodermal testing, which measures the flow of electricity at acupuncture points considered to correspond to the flow of energy along acupuncture meridians; thermography that maps the thermal patterns of the body; and EEG, ECG, and other similar clinical diagnostics which measure the electrical emission from key organs such as brain and heart, respectively, although belief is that this energy is simply waste. Scientists have also measured biophotons, the ultraweak light emitted from the body. Dowsing, psychic reading, and other subjective measures have also been used to assess the subtle energies of life.
However, there still remains a need to not only visualize part of the human biofield, but also to use that visualized image to diagnose the human in response to various stimuli.